Army broke the streak and picked up its first win over Navy since 2001.
PASSING OFFENSE – D
The Army passing attack was its usual bit part component of the offense against Navy. In fairness the Black Knights did not have to go to the air that often because the rushing game was working so well, but when they did the Mids were ready for them.
The biggest play in the passing game came at the end of the first quarter with the Black Knights up 7-0 and driving into Navy territory. Army quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw dropped back to throw and looked to have an open receiver breaking to the outside around 20 yards downfield. At the moment of the pass it looked like a certain completion, but Navy safety Sean Williams dropped off of his assignment to get in the passing lane and make a spectacular interception.
This seemed to make Army even more gun shy than normal when it came to throwing the ball and on the day Bradshaw had just four passing attempts. He completed two of those passes for 35 yards to go along with his interception.
RUSHING OFFENSE – B+
Army completely dominated this game on the ground. The Black Knights had 23 first downs for the game, while the Navy offense gave the defense zero rest as the Midshipmen only had eight first downs of their own. This disparity was even greater early in the contest as at one point the first down count was 14-1 in favor of Army.
The Black Knights played this one smart and knowing that the Navy defense was overworked the coaching staff concentrated on pounding the ball inside with fullback Andy Davidson (28 carries) and slotback/fullback Kell Walker (16 carries) upping their usual workload. Quarterback Bradshaw had just nine carries as Army combined to tote the rock 70 times for 316 yards and three scores on the ground.
The result of this was a time of possession advantage of over 20 minutes as the Black Knights controlled the ball for more than 40 minutes. Bradshaw made good decisions and if not for three Army fumbles it is hard to see how this game would have been close.
PASSING DEFENSE – A
The Black Knights knew coming into this game that they would be facing a quarterback making his first collegiate start and sophomore Zach Abey was simply not up to the task. He finished the day 6 of 10 passing the ball for 89 yards and no touchdowns. It was, however, the two interceptions that sparked the Army defense in the first half and gave the offense the ball to get out to a 14-0 lead.
The Army linebackers all did their jobs in the passing game and the unit was active both as a pass rushing threat (two sacks) and in disrupting routes and closing passing lanes. Army knew that the pass was going to be far less of a threat than if Will Worth were in the game and they hit Abey at every opportunity to knock the rookie completely out of his rhythm in the first half.
RUSHING DEFENSE – A
With the Navy passing game shut down, it was clear the Black Knights were going to force the Midshipmen to beat them on the ground. Navy though could get nothing going here and the 26 carry for 112 yards performance is almost three times less yardage than the team averages on the season. Again it is easy to point fingers at Abey, but he got no help here. Navy was marching on the opening series of the game, before a Shawn White fumble on the tail end of a 14-yard run gave the Black Knights the ball and the momentum.
Army did an outstanding job of taking the slotback out of the equation in this game. Of the Mids 26 carries, 19 were from the quarterback and seven were from the fullbacks. This shows that the edges were completely shut down as Navy is usually a team that gets giant chunk plays from its shift outside backs. With the fullback and slotback runs essentially off of the table, it is no wonder that it seemed that linebackers Jeremy Timpf and Andrew King were teeing off on Abey all day long.
SPECIAL TEAMS – C-
Not much to see here from the Army special teams. There were no punt returns by the team on the day and the four kickoff returns netted a total of just 62 yards. Punter J.D. Mote had a tough time as his two punts totaled just 55 yards and one traveled just 25 yards setting Navy up with great field position and allowing the Mids to score just two plays later.
The most interesting special teams play was when head coach Jeff Monken turned down a potential 32-yard field goal to instead successfully go for it on fourth down during the Black Knights second touchdown drive. While Army was moving the ball well, this says a lot about the level of faith, specifically the lack of it, that Monken has in his kicking game.
COACHING – B
Jeff Monken coached himself a good game to break the streak and give Army its first win over Navy in 15 attempts. The head coach knew how beaten up Navy was as a team and the gameplan was even more simple than normal. Monken did not try to be cute, he just ran the ball straight down the Mids throat for 60 minutes knowing that the Navy defense was eventually going to buckle under the pressure of the onslaught. Monken could have changed his strategy after three fumbles had allowed Navy to get ahead in the contest, but his trust in his players was rewarded when Bradshaw put the Black Knights up for good with a typically elusive 9-yard run in the fourth quarter.
OVERALL – A
The Black Knights finally beating Navy would have made this overall grade an A no matter how badly the team played. As it was the Black knight executed their offensive game plan well and the defense was lights out all day in stopping Navy moving the ball. The four turnovers mean this was far from a perfect performance, but when you beat your arch rivals it doesn’t have to be perfect to be special.
